Top judge accused of showing child abuse material to uni students during class is granted extraordinary wish in court
Former Fair Work Commission senior deputy president Justice Alan Boulton, 74, has been charged over material allegedly displayed in the last 15 minutes of a lecture at Monash University's Melbourne CBD campus on February 5.
The university referred the matter to Victoria Police, which seized multiple electronic devices during a raid on Boulton's inner-city Middle Park home a week later.
He has since been charged with one count of possessing child abuse material as a Commonwealth offence and two counts of possessing child abuse material following a 'lengthy' investigation by detectives.
Boulton appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates' Court on Thursday via video link where his lawyer asked Magistrate Brett Sonnet to make an exception to the near-standard bail condition for alleged sex offenders.
The application to allow Boulton to travel overseas was hotly disputed by prosecutors acting for the Crown.
But Boulton's lawyer argued her client had spent a large sum of money on his international getaway.
Under strict bail conditions being sought by police, he was asked to hand over his passport and not attend any international points of departure.
Boulton had been charged by way of summons on July 31.
'My instructor has been upfront with the informant and police throughout the entirety of this investigation and provided them on July 23 with information about Mr Boulton's future trip,' his lawyer argued.
'No issue was taken with that. On that basis he booked the trip. A serious amount of money has been spent on that trip.'
The court heard police had been provided with Boulton's flight details and his itinerary.
His lawyer argued Boulton had travelled overseas in May while under investigation by police and had returned to Australia without absconding.
In making his decision, Mr Sonnet accepted Boulton had no prior criminal history and had otherwise no issues with police while on bail.
'Madam prosecutor, I'm not persuaded that I should impose (those conditions),' Mr Sonnet said.
The prosecution continued to argue the point without success.
LIFE AND TIMES OF ACCUSED JUDGE
Boulton's career in law and the public sector spans more than 45 years, in both Australia and overseas.
The University of Sydney graduate first worked as a solicitor and then a lecturer at Canberra's Australian National University.
In 1979, Boulton was appointed as the first legal officer for the Australian Council of Trade Unions by then-president Bob Hawke, who became Prime Minister several years later.
He also had a stint with the International Labour Organisation in the Philippines, Indonesia and Timor-Leste, where he helped draft modern labour laws and addressed the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
At the Fair Work Commission, Boulton first served as deputy president 1989–93 and then as senior deputy president until 2015.
He also previously served as president of the Industrial Relations Commission of Victoria
Boulton was appointed as an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 2002 for 'distinguished service to industrial arbitration and labour relations'.
'The accused did return from an overseas trip earlier this year,' the prosecutor said.
'At the time of the investigation it was still an investigation. Charges hadn't been laid at that occasion'
Mr Sonnet - the brother of career criminal Sean Sonnet, who was the former lieutenant of gangland boss Carl Williams - said he further took into account Boulton's age in coming to his decision.
'In my view, the first three conditions are appropriate in all the circumstances. The application to impose (those other conditions) is refused by the court,' he said.
Those three conditions relate to Boulton's living arrangements while in Victoria and for him not to contact any prosecution witnesses.
Police have until September 18 to supply the court its brief of evidence against Boulton, who will not be required to return to court again until late November.
Boulton had been a senior fellow of the Faculty of Law at Monash University, regarded as one of Australia's most prestigious universities and ranked among the top 50 worldwide.
He was immediately suspended and removed from all teaching duties following the alleged incident.
'Monash University was made aware of concerns relating to an incident in February 2025, and referred the matter to Victoria Police,' a spokesperson told Daily Mail.
A student who attended the human rights lecture has since recalled his shock as the alleged incident unfolded.
'You don't obviously expect when you're in class to see something like that,' he told Seven News.
'I had one female friend in the class who was quite disturbed by what they'd seen.
'You don't come into a learning environment with a teacher, a chief examiner and expect to come into that situation.
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